There's Mounting Evidence That Apple's New iPhone Will Allow Us To Make Easy Mobile Payments

It’s been previously rumored that Apple’s next-generation iPhone
would include near-field communication (NFC) technology to allow
for new services — specifically, a mobile payments platform that
was patented years ago called “iWallet.”

We’d previously reported on how Apple could make a
big play in mobile payments with an NFC chip, which would be
paired with the company’s Touch ID fingerprint security system
that launched on last year’s iPhone 5S.

Currently, iPhone users can purchase iTunes and App Store content
with their fingerprints, but by broadening the scope of what the
iPhone can interact with thanks to NFC and Apple’s own iBeacons,
users could soon pay for goods and send money to each other with
only their iPhones and their fingerprints — no wallets necessary.
(Learn
more about iBeacons here.)

Awarded to Apple in March 2012, the “iWallet” patentdescribes a way to let users control all their
financial accounts and transactions on their iPhones. They can
also view their credit card profiles, see messages from
their banks, and if a child owns an iPhone, Apple created
parental controls in its “iWallet” system so they can set
spending limits on their children and even request authorization
from the parent — for purchases above a certain price limit, for
a certain number of purchases, or any purchases at all — via
their own iDevice.

PatentlyApple

Apple’s mobile payments platform would leverage the billing
information already associated with one’s iTunes account, which
is used to purchase iTunes content and App Store apps.

Hopefully, the iWallet platform would also be
able to link to Apple’s other apps like Numbers so you can learn
more about your own finances and spending habits.

“An Apple-based payments system could eventually
involve an expansion of revenue streams into promotions and
coupons with retailers, but this type of functionality could also
be done with Apps from others (and already is, in many cases),”
Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said in a
recent note.